Metro Detroit storm damage: Strong winds topple trees and branches onto homes, vehicles, power lines

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Thunderstorms Wednesday brought heavy winds that left destruction across Metro Detroit.

As of 7:20 a.m. Thursday, nearly 160,000 DTE Energy customers are without power from the storms. The number of impacted customers has steadily risen most of the morning.

Check outage updates here.

Along with power outages, residents are faced with cleaning up big messes left by the strong winds. 

Several areas were hit particularly hard, including Livonia. 

"It started getting bad. I went into the house, and I was standing in the window and all of a sudden we heard the boom and a crack," a resident who lives near Five Mile, a hard-hit area, said.

Nearby, a tree crashed down on a vehicle with people inside, including children. The vehicle was so covered by the tree that the people inside were not visible, but everyone made it out safely. 

Large trees also toppled in Redford Township, damaging homes and blocking streets.

"I called my cousin, I said, ‘Our power is blinking,' then I hear sizzling," said Redford resident Scottie. "And then the wind just came out of nowhere, boom boom boom."

Another resident on Salem Street said he was returning home around the time the storm had hit.

"I get home and I couldn't even get to my street," Michael said.

He said he had to drive on the grass to get in his driveway because there was a large tree blocking his way.

"This is terrible," he said.

The east side was also hit, with trees in Grosse Pointe Farms crashing into homes. Many trees were also taken down in Detroit.